Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to West Virginia to investigate mountain-top removal -- which a way of extracting coal from deposits under mountains. Instead of drilling into the mountain and sending men underground to take out the coal in the traditional way, they just take the whole top of a mountain off.
Hosted by Derrick Beckles | Originally aired on http://VICE.com in 2009
Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/user/vice/videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice
Read our tumblr: http://vicemag.tumblr.com

published:03 Jul 2012

views:290883

www.plunderingappalachia.org

published:07 Aug 2009

views:53068

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, this video shows firsthand footage of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impacts on Appalachian mountains, drinking water and families. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where explosives are used to blast the tops off mountains to expose the thin seams of coal beneath. Once blasted, earth and coal dust from the mountaintop is dumped into neighboring valleys and waterways. Hundreds of mountaintops have been lost forever to MTR, and according to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have already been buried or contaminated by the devastating mining practice. Take action today and tell banks to stop financing this American tragedy at http://ran.org/mtrbanks

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.

published:03 May 2017

views:6668

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of BigCoal.
The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
The citizens argue the practice of dynamiting the mountain's top off to mine the coal within pollutes the air and water, is responsible for the deaths of their neighbors and spreads pollution to other states. Yet, regardless of evidence supporting these claims, Big Coal corporations repeat the process daily in the name of profit. Massive profit allows Big Coal to wield incredible financial influence over lobbyists and government officials in both parties, rewrite environmental protection laws, avoid lawsuits and eliminate more than 40,000 mining jobs, all while claiming to be a miner's best friend. As our energy needs increase, so does Big Coal's control over our future. This fact and a belief that America was founded on the democratic principal that no individual or corporation owns the air and water and we all share the responsibility of protecting it, drives these patriotic citizens and their supporters from outside of Appalachia, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to keep fighting.A passionate and personal tale that honors the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, THE LAST MOUNTAIN shines a light on America's energy needs and how those needs are being supplied. It is a fight for our future that affects us all.
Written, directed and produced by Bill Haney, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder and president of the eco-housing start-up, Blu Homes, THE LAST MOUNTAIN was co-written and edited by Peter Rhodes and produced by Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. Narrated by William Sadler, the film features original music by composer Claudio Ragazzi and includes the song "Your Control" by Crooked Fingers and Neko Case.
Category:

published:21 Sep 2012

views:395292

MattWasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virginia, mountaintops are blown up to get coal. This fills the air with toxic dust clouds and lowers the water quality for those living around the mountains. But it’s not just an issue for the immediate vicinity. “The idea of blowing up these mountains to power our light switches is a very sad prospect,” Matt says.
Coal companies blow up the mountaintops, but we can’t afford to be wasteful and careless in how we produce and consume energy any longer. We must take responsibility for our actions toward nature and the effect they will have on future generations. We must protect our mountains. And that’s exactly what Matt, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, plans to do. Join the award-winning online campaign he created, and stand up to stop mountaintop removal coal mining on http://iLoveMountains.org.
--
Produced by Wanderlust Festival (http://wanderlust.com)
Filmed and edited by: Greenheart.TV (http://greenheart.tv/)
Filmed at WanderlustSnowshoe2015
Additional footage: (http://appalachianvoices.org)

Mountaintop removal mining

Mountaintop removal mining (MTR), also known as mountaintop mining (MTM), is a form of surface mining that involves the mining of the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams. This method of coal mining is conducted in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. Explosives are used to remove up to 400 vertical feet (120 m) of mountain to expose underlying coal seams. Excess rock and soil is dumped into nearby valleys, in what are called "holler fills" or "valley fills." Less expensive to execute and requiring fewer employees, mountaintop removal mining began in Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of conventional strip mining techniques. It is primarily occurring in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee.

The practice of mountaintop removal mining has been controversial. The coal industry cites economic benefits and asserts that mountaintop removal is safer than underground mining. Published scientific studies have found that mountaintop mining has serious environmental impacts that mitigation practices cannot successfully address. A high potential for human health impacts has also been reported.

West Virginia became a state following the Wheeling Conventions of 1861, in which delegates from some Unionist counties of northwestern Virginia decided to break away from Virginia during the American Civil War, although they included many secessionist counties in the new state. West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key Civil War border state. West Virginia was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, the first to separate from any state since Maine separated from Massachusetts, and was one of two states formed during the American Civil War (the other being Nevada, which separated from Utah Territory).

The product, re-released as Google Earth in 2005, is available for use on personal computers running Windows 2000 and above, Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above, Linux kernel: 2.6 or later (released on June 12, 2006), and FreeBSD. Google Earth is also available as a browserplugin which was released on May 28, 2008. It was also made available for mobile viewers on the iPhone OS on October 28, 2008, as a free download from the App Store, and is available to Android users as a free app in the Google Play store. In addition to releasing an updated Keyhole based client, Google also added the imagery from the Earth database to their web-based mapping software, Google Maps. The release of Google Earth in June 2005 to the public caused a more than tenfold increase in media coverage on virtual globes between 2004 and 2005, driving public interest in geospatial technologies and applications.
As of October 2011, Google Earth has been downloaded more than a billion times.

"Mountaintop Removal" - Lissie

Blowing Up Mountains: Destroying the Environment for Coal

Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to West Virginia to investigate mountain-top removal -- which a way of extracting coal from deposits under mountains. Instead of drilling into the mountain and sending men underground to take out the coal in the traditional way, they just take the whole top of a mountain off.
Hosted by Derrick Beckles | Originally aired on http://VICE.com in 2009
Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/user/vice/videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice
Read our tumblr: http://vicemag.tumblr.com

Mountaintop Removal: An American Tragedy

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, this video shows firsthand footage of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impacts on Appalachian mountains, drinking water and families. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where explosives are used to blast the tops off mountains to expose the thin seams of coal beneath. Once blasted, earth and coal dust from the mountaintop is dumped into neighboring valleys and waterways. Hundreds of mountaintops have been lost forever to MTR, and according to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have already been buried or contaminated by the devastating mining practice. Take action today and tell banks to stop financing this American tragedy at http://ran.org/mtrbanks

How mountaintop mining affects life and landscape in West Virginia

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.

1:35:10

The Last Mountain

The Last Mountain

The Last Mountain

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of BigCoal.
The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
The citizens argue the practice of dynamiting the mountain's top off to mine the coal within pollutes the air and water, is responsible for the deaths of their neighbors and spreads pollution to other states. Yet, regardless of evidence supporting these claims, Big Coal corporations repeat the process daily in the name of profit. Massive profit allows Big Coal to wield incredible financial influence over lobbyists and government officials in both parties, rewrite environmental protection laws, avoid lawsuits and eliminate more than 40,000 mining jobs, all while claiming to be a miner's best friend. As our energy needs increase, so does Big Coal's control over our future. This fact and a belief that America was founded on the democratic principal that no individual or corporation owns the air and water and we all share the responsibility of protecting it, drives these patriotic citizens and their supporters from outside of Appalachia, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to keep fighting.A passionate and personal tale that honors the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, THE LAST MOUNTAIN shines a light on America's energy needs and how those needs are being supplied. It is a fight for our future that affects us all.
Written, directed and produced by Bill Haney, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder and president of the eco-housing start-up, Blu Homes, THE LAST MOUNTAIN was co-written and edited by Peter Rhodes and produced by Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. Narrated by William Sadler, the film features original music by composer Claudio Ragazzi and includes the song "Your Control" by Crooked Fingers and Neko Case.
Category:

2:12

Matt Wasson - The True Cost of Mountaintop Removal

Matt Wasson - The True Cost of Mountaintop Removal

Matt Wasson - The True Cost of Mountaintop Removal

MattWasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virginia, mountaintops are blown up to get coal. This fills the air with toxic dust clouds and lowers the water quality for those living around the mountains. But it’s not just an issue for the immediate vicinity. “The idea of blowing up these mountains to power our light switches is a very sad prospect,” Matt says.
Coal companies blow up the mountaintops, but we can’t afford to be wasteful and careless in how we produce and consume energy any longer. We must take responsibility for our actions toward nature and the effect they will have on future generations. We must protect our mountains. And that’s exactly what Matt, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, plans to do. Join the award-winning online campaign he created, and stand up to stop mountaintop removal coal mining on http://iLoveMountains.org.
--
Produced by Wanderlust Festival (http://wanderlust.com)
Filmed and edited by: Greenheart.TV (http://greenheart.tv/)
Filmed at WanderlustSnowshoe2015
Additional footage: (http://appalachianvoices.org)

"Mountaintop Removal" - Lissie

Blowing Up Mountains: Destroying the Environment for Coal

Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to West Virginia to investigate mountain-top removal -- which a way of extracting coal from deposits under mountains. Instead of drilling into the mountain and sending men underground to take out the coal in the traditional way, they just take the whole top of a mountain off.
Hosted by Derrick Beckles | Originally aired on http://VICE.com in 2009
Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/user/vice/videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: http:...

Mountaintop Removal: An American Tragedy

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, this video shows firsthand footage of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impacts on Appalachian mountains, drinking water and families. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where explosives are used to blast the tops off mountains to expose the thin seams of coal beneath. Once blasted, earth and coal dust from the mountaintop is dumped into neighboring valleys and waterways. Hundreds of mountaintops have been lost forever to MTR, and according to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have already been buried or contaminated by the devastating mining practice. Take action today and tell banks to stop financing this American tragedy at http://ran.org/mtrbanks

How mountaintop mining affects life and landscape in West Virginia

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.

published: 03 May 2017

The Last Mountain

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of BigCoal.
The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
The citizen...

published: 21 Sep 2012

Matt Wasson - The True Cost of Mountaintop Removal

MattWasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virginia, mountaintops are blown up to get coal. This fills the air with toxic dust clouds and lowers the water quality for those living around the mountains. But it’s not just an issue for the immediate vicinity. “The idea of blowing up these mountains to power our light switches is a very sad prospect,” Matt says.
Coal companies blow up the mountaintops, but we can’t afford to be wasteful and careless in how we produce and consume energy any longer. We must take responsibility for our actions toward nature and the effect they will have on future generations. We must protect our mountains. And that’s exactly what Matt, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, plans to do. Join the award-winning online...

Blowing Up Mountains: Destroying the Environment for Coal

Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to We...

Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to West Virginia to investigate mountain-top removal -- which a way of extracting coal from deposits under mountains. Instead of drilling into the mountain and sending men underground to take out the coal in the traditional way, they just take the whole top of a mountain off.
Hosted by Derrick Beckles | Originally aired on http://VICE.com in 2009
Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/user/vice/videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice
Read our tumblr: http://vicemag.tumblr.com

Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to West Virginia to investigate mountain-top removal -- which a way of extracting coal from deposits under mountains. Instead of drilling into the mountain and sending men underground to take out the coal in the traditional way, they just take the whole top of a mountain off.
Hosted by Derrick Beckles | Originally aired on http://VICE.com in 2009
Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/user/vice/videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice
Read our tumblr: http://vicemag.tumblr.com

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, this video shows firsthand footage of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impacts on Appalachian mountains, drinking water and families. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where explosives are used to blast the tops off mountains to expose the thin seams of coal beneath. Once blasted, earth and coal dust from the mountaintop is dumped into neighboring valleys and waterways. Hundreds of mountaintops have been lost forever to MTR, and according to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have already been buried or contaminated by the devastating mining practice. Take action today and tell banks to stop financing this American tragedy at http://ran.org/mtrbanks

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, this video shows firsthand footage of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impacts on Appalachian mountains, drinking water and families. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where explosives are used to blast the tops off mountains to expose the thin seams of coal beneath. Once blasted, earth and coal dust from the mountaintop is dumped into neighboring valleys and waterways. Hundreds of mountaintops have been lost forever to MTR, and according to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have already been buried or contaminated by the devastating mining practice. Take action today and tell banks to stop financing this American tragedy at http://ran.org/mtrbanks

How mountaintop mining affects life and landscape in West Virginia

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beau...

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.

The Last Mountain

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their ...

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of BigCoal.
The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
The citizens argue the practice of dynamiting the mountain's top off to mine the coal within pollutes the air and water, is responsible for the deaths of their neighbors and spreads pollution to other states. Yet, regardless of evidence supporting these claims, Big Coal corporations repeat the process daily in the name of profit. Massive profit allows Big Coal to wield incredible financial influence over lobbyists and government officials in both parties, rewrite environmental protection laws, avoid lawsuits and eliminate more than 40,000 mining jobs, all while claiming to be a miner's best friend. As our energy needs increase, so does Big Coal's control over our future. This fact and a belief that America was founded on the democratic principal that no individual or corporation owns the air and water and we all share the responsibility of protecting it, drives these patriotic citizens and their supporters from outside of Appalachia, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to keep fighting.A passionate and personal tale that honors the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, THE LAST MOUNTAIN shines a light on America's energy needs and how those needs are being supplied. It is a fight for our future that affects us all.
Written, directed and produced by Bill Haney, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder and president of the eco-housing start-up, Blu Homes, THE LAST MOUNTAIN was co-written and edited by Peter Rhodes and produced by Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. Narrated by William Sadler, the film features original music by composer Claudio Ragazzi and includes the song "Your Control" by Crooked Fingers and Neko Case.
Category:

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of BigCoal.
The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
The citizens argue the practice of dynamiting the mountain's top off to mine the coal within pollutes the air and water, is responsible for the deaths of their neighbors and spreads pollution to other states. Yet, regardless of evidence supporting these claims, Big Coal corporations repeat the process daily in the name of profit. Massive profit allows Big Coal to wield incredible financial influence over lobbyists and government officials in both parties, rewrite environmental protection laws, avoid lawsuits and eliminate more than 40,000 mining jobs, all while claiming to be a miner's best friend. As our energy needs increase, so does Big Coal's control over our future. This fact and a belief that America was founded on the democratic principal that no individual or corporation owns the air and water and we all share the responsibility of protecting it, drives these patriotic citizens and their supporters from outside of Appalachia, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to keep fighting.A passionate and personal tale that honors the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, THE LAST MOUNTAIN shines a light on America's energy needs and how those needs are being supplied. It is a fight for our future that affects us all.
Written, directed and produced by Bill Haney, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder and president of the eco-housing start-up, Blu Homes, THE LAST MOUNTAIN was co-written and edited by Peter Rhodes and produced by Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. Narrated by William Sadler, the film features original music by composer Claudio Ragazzi and includes the song "Your Control" by Crooked Fingers and Neko Case.
Category:

MattWasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virginia, mountaintops are blown up to get coal. This fills the air with toxic dust clouds and lowers the water quality for those living around the mountains. But it’s not just an issue for the immediate vicinity. “The idea of blowing up these mountains to power our light switches is a very sad prospect,” Matt says.
Coal companies blow up the mountaintops, but we can’t afford to be wasteful and careless in how we produce and consume energy any longer. We must take responsibility for our actions toward nature and the effect they will have on future generations. We must protect our mountains. And that’s exactly what Matt, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, plans to do. Join the award-winning online campaign he created, and stand up to stop mountaintop removal coal mining on http://iLoveMountains.org.
--
Produced by Wanderlust Festival (http://wanderlust.com)
Filmed and edited by: Greenheart.TV (http://greenheart.tv/)
Filmed at WanderlustSnowshoe2015
Additional footage: (http://appalachianvoices.org)

MattWasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virginia, mountaintops are blown up to get coal. This fills the air with toxic dust clouds and lowers the water quality for those living around the mountains. But it’s not just an issue for the immediate vicinity. “The idea of blowing up these mountains to power our light switches is a very sad prospect,” Matt says.
Coal companies blow up the mountaintops, but we can’t afford to be wasteful and careless in how we produce and consume energy any longer. We must take responsibility for our actions toward nature and the effect they will have on future generations. We must protect our mountains. And that’s exactly what Matt, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, plans to do. Join the award-winning online campaign he created, and stand up to stop mountaintop removal coal mining on http://iLoveMountains.org.
--
Produced by Wanderlust Festival (http://wanderlust.com)
Filmed and edited by: Greenheart.TV (http://greenheart.tv/)
Filmed at WanderlustSnowshoe2015
Additional footage: (http://appalachianvoices.org)

Blowing Up Mountains: Destroying the Environment for Coal

Massive corporations are blowing up mountains and creating environmental ruins in West Virginia. All this devastation, just to extract some coal.
We went to West Virginia to investigate mountain-top removal -- which a way of extracting coal from deposits under mountains. Instead of drilling into the mountain and sending men underground to take out the coal in the traditional way, they just take the whole top of a mountain off.
Hosted by Derrick Beckles | Originally aired on http://VICE.com in 2009
Watch more VICE documentaries here: http://bit.ly/VICE-Presents
Subscribe for videos that are actually good: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
Check out our full video catalog: http://www.youtube.com/user/vice/videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice
Read our tumblr: http://vicemag.tumblr.com

Mountaintop Removal: An American Tragedy

Narrated by Susan Sarandon, this video shows firsthand footage of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impacts on Appalachian mountains, drinking water and families. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where explosives are used to blast the tops off mountains to expose the thin seams of coal beneath. Once blasted, earth and coal dust from the mountaintop is dumped into neighboring valleys and waterways. Hundreds of mountaintops have been lost forever to MTR, and according to a 2005 environmental impact statement, nearly 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have already been buried or contaminated by the devastating mining practice. Take action today and tell banks to stop financing this American tragedy at http://ran.org/mtrbanks

4:27

Appalachian Mountaintop Removal in Google Earth & Maps

Appalachian Voices, a small non-profit organization in North Carolina, is using Google Ear...

How mountaintop mining affects life and landscape in West Virginia

Deep layers of underground coal are all but gone in West Virginia after 200 years of relentless mining, leaving thinner seams of coal on top of the state's beautiful mountains. But surface mining carries a huge cost: nothing less than mountains themselves. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on how the Appalachian landscape is being fundamentally and irrevocably changed.

1:35:10

The Last Mountain

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle wit...

The Last Mountain

In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of BigCoal.
The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
The citizens argue the practice of dynamiting the mountain's top off to mine the coal within pollutes the air and water, is responsible for the deaths of their neighbors and spreads pollution to other states. Yet, regardless of evidence supporting these claims, Big Coal corporations repeat the process daily in the name of profit. Massive profit allows Big Coal to wield incredible financial influence over lobbyists and government officials in both parties, rewrite environmental protection laws, avoid lawsuits and eliminate more than 40,000 mining jobs, all while claiming to be a miner's best friend. As our energy needs increase, so does Big Coal's control over our future. This fact and a belief that America was founded on the democratic principal that no individual or corporation owns the air and water and we all share the responsibility of protecting it, drives these patriotic citizens and their supporters from outside of Appalachia, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to keep fighting.A passionate and personal tale that honors the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, THE LAST MOUNTAIN shines a light on America's energy needs and how those needs are being supplied. It is a fight for our future that affects us all.
Written, directed and produced by Bill Haney, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder and president of the eco-housing start-up, Blu Homes, THE LAST MOUNTAIN was co-written and edited by Peter Rhodes and produced by Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. Narrated by William Sadler, the film features original music by composer Claudio Ragazzi and includes the song "Your Control" by Crooked Fingers and Neko Case.
Category:

2:12

Matt Wasson - The True Cost of Mountaintop Removal

Matt Wasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virgini...

Matt Wasson - The True Cost of Mountaintop Removal

MattWasson is an ecologist, and he sees a problem. Every week in Appalachia, West Virginia, mountaintops are blown up to get coal. This fills the air with toxic dust clouds and lowers the water quality for those living around the mountains. But it’s not just an issue for the immediate vicinity. “The idea of blowing up these mountains to power our light switches is a very sad prospect,” Matt says.
Coal companies blow up the mountaintops, but we can’t afford to be wasteful and careless in how we produce and consume energy any longer. We must take responsibility for our actions toward nature and the effect they will have on future generations. We must protect our mountains. And that’s exactly what Matt, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, plans to do. Join the award-winning online campaign he created, and stand up to stop mountaintop removal coal mining on http://iLoveMountains.org.
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Produced by Wanderlust Festival (http://wanderlust.com)
Filmed and edited by: Greenheart.TV (http://greenheart.tv/)
Filmed at WanderlustSnowshoe2015
Additional footage: (http://appalachianvoices.org)

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Mountaintop Removal Movie from iLoveMountains.org

More than 500 mountains have been destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining. Watch thi...

Mountaintop Removal Movie from iLoveMountains.org...

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The second annual Grebe Festival, hosted by the Plumas Audubon Society, will be held Friday and Saturday Aug. 18-20 in Chester. Headquarters are at 400 Meadowbrook Loop and more than 25 field trips range from mountaintop to lake side and cover many parts of Plumas and Lassen counties. There are activities from 9 a ... ....

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